This insight is right on the money. Taiwan’s failure to prepare for what is suppose to be the threat of imminent Chinese invasion has been staring at us in plain sight for years. What is this telling us? Either the Taiwanese know something we don’t or maybe they have different ideas as to what they really have in mind to counter China. In the WWII battle to take Okinawa, the Japanese sunk or damaged 368 US ships, more than we have in the whole US Navy today. Maybe the Taiwanese have a different kind of war in mind, or they know that trying to fight off China will not be worth the terrible cost because defeat will be inevitable? —Perhaps it is better for Nancy Pelosi no to make any more trips to Taiwan.
Lucky for Taiwan, even modern Chinese citizens don't tolerate casualties, as demonstrated by public attention on the families of four soldiers died in a skirmish with India.
The article also highlights Iran's reliance on Arab proxies and Israel responds in kind. If Iran can have such low birthrate, I wonder if it's the same with North Korea.
As more Americans cannot care about Taiwan, Taiwan has the good luck so far that the Chinese don't want a war too, for now.
Hard to argue with. May be best explained by path dependency, political inertia, and a psychology of security dependence on the UD.
This insight is right on the money. Taiwan’s failure to prepare for what is suppose to be the threat of imminent Chinese invasion has been staring at us in plain sight for years. What is this telling us? Either the Taiwanese know something we don’t or maybe they have different ideas as to what they really have in mind to counter China. In the WWII battle to take Okinawa, the Japanese sunk or damaged 368 US ships, more than we have in the whole US Navy today. Maybe the Taiwanese have a different kind of war in mind, or they know that trying to fight off China will not be worth the terrible cost because defeat will be inevitable? —Perhaps it is better for Nancy Pelosi no to make any more trips to Taiwan.
Reminds me of this UnHerd article by Edward Luttwak: https://unherd.com/?p=606479
Lucky for Taiwan, even modern Chinese citizens don't tolerate casualties, as demonstrated by public attention on the families of four soldiers died in a skirmish with India.
The article also highlights Iran's reliance on Arab proxies and Israel responds in kind. If Iran can have such low birthrate, I wonder if it's the same with North Korea.
As more Americans cannot care about Taiwan, Taiwan has the good luck so far that the Chinese don't want a war too, for now.